Yarn-conditioning machine.



0x H. GILLEY.

YARN CONDITIONING MACHNE.

APYLIGATION FILED HARM, 191s.

. ,@@QLQW Patented Apr. 141, 19M,

#memes parrain As garanti ernten.

ossoaiv n. emana', or Wnsrronzo, MASSACHUSETTS, Assrenon To c. e. Sano-Entre sons CORPORATION, or GRANITEVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

YARN-CONDITIONING MACHINE.

l Specification of Letters Patent.

rat-enten Api, ia, iam.

Applicatin-filed March24, T9133. Serial No, 756,401.

To zZZ'w/'Lomitmay/ concern: I

Be it known that I, GSBORN H. CILLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at festfoi-d, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Yarn-Conditioning Machine, of

. which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a machine for conditioning yarns for setting the twist therein in order that the may be used subsequently without difficulty either in weav ing or knitting.

As is well known, it is necessary that most yarn used for textile purposes-shall have moisture or heat of some form applied to set the twist and thus overcome thetend'ency to kink when being used in a loom or on a knitting maghine` If it is not done there is liability ofv imperfections appearing in the finished goods in the form of kinks.

Ths invention is designed principally for use in conditioning mule spun yarn, com# monly 4known as cop yarn yand for condit-ioning` it in the filling boxes, but itis ca` to'lescape into the room and Without unneces-V lary handling andconveying ofthe filling s Y oXes.

The invention also involves an improved form of steam chamber for this purpose' adapted to be manufactured and sold in such 'a Way as to be put up in any desired position in a mill, a conveyor therefor suitable for receiving the filling boxes and conveying them through Athe .steam laden atmosphere of the device, and means whereby these filling boxes can be placed on the conveyor outside the machine andconveyed into the machine and through it without permitting the steam to be discharged l'into the room.

The invention also involves improvements in details of construction and `combinations of parts as will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanyy ing drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a yarn con ditioning machine constructed 1n accordance withthis invention; Fig. Q is a longitudin'al central sectional `view of the same; and Fig. is an endview of the machine.

tnumber ofinethods have been employed in mills. for setting the'twist in mule spun yarn but theone in most common use is the steamz-chest.' As is well known, it is most practical not to remove ,the 'yarn from the lilling boxes into which it is doil'ed from the mules until it is ready to be put into" the l'o'oins or knitting machines. AConsequently .the yarn to be conditioned is left in the lfilling boxes without being disturbed. Un this account the steam chestl is not capable of uniformly conditioning the yarn. These boXes have tobe piled up in the steam Chest and the steam turned onv and left in that condition for some hours. Inthis way the yarn nearest that part lof the chest where Ithe steam v'enters often is more conditioned eoY than is necessary, while that in a remote po-` sitionis. not conditioned suiliciently and it is sometimes found that the yarn subjected to the most prolongedand cflicient -steaming is dis'colored. Moreover, on account of the length of time necessan7 to obtain the desired results by the steam chest method, illi ing-boxes deteriorate very ra )idly and often the` pitch Vruns out of thejsies of the boxes and ruins the yarn. Other serious difiiculties are the length of time required and the annoyance arising by the rvariation in the temperaturewhich often results in the cracking open of the walls and ceilings of the steam chest thus allowing the steam to escape into other parts of the mill. Also, the steam chest Vusmlllyhas to be built outside the spinning room and thus time is lost in carrying the filling boxes to and from the steam chest. .ln order to overcome these dil'liculties and especiallyY to secure a uniform and. rapid conditioning of the yarn a steam chamber 10 is provided preferably built iutirely of metal. The inside is lined with copper and the voutside is covered with sheet steel with asbestos insulation between the two surfaces to prevent radiation in the preferred form of the apparatus. This chau1- ber is shown as of a rectangular form with a slanling bottomand provided with steam inlets ll and l2 and with a central horizontal pal'tiiionll extending part way from the front to the.' rear. L fan Il-'i shown for drawing out the steam after-,it has had the E 'desired effect upon the yarn.

The chamber-is shown as provided with two shafts 15 inside, one above `the other.

Two similar shafts 1G are provided outside,

parallel .with them and support-Pd on uprights 17 which are spaced from t-he end of the casing. Each of these shafts is provided With a pair of sprocket wheels 18 and on these sprocket Wheels run a pair of chains top of one end through a projecting inlet 25 andemerges from the chamber-at the bottom through asimilar outlet 26.4 These are long enough and deep enough to receive two of the supportsv21 with the filling boxes thereon. For the purpose of preventing the discharge of steam through the inlet` 25 the endless eonveyer is provided with va regularly spaced series of baille plates 27 substantially filling the inlet 25' and outlet 26 and sealing them at all times against the eX- haust of steam therethrough. These baflle plates extend substantially equal distances above and below the conveyer and are/spaced apart a distance equal to the distance of'tWo of-the supports 2l and a distance slightly less than the lengt-h of the inlet 25. Itis to be observed that the steam inlets 11 and 12 are loca-ted just under the two strandsof the endless conveyer, or rather just under the line'of movement of the bottom of the supports 21 on which the perforated filling yboxes are carried.

In operation, the yarn on cops is doli'ed into the filling boxes in the usual Way. These are then placed on the supports 21 as these supports come around in proper position, the machine operating continuously.v

They thenv pass up and into the inlet 25, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 2, and as soon as the baille plate 27, which is in ad-l vance of each filling box, enters the main chamber steam from the inlet 12 comes directly in contact with the filling box and enters it through the perforations therein. Thus the filling box is incloscd in a space lled with steam. As the'fan 14 is directly over the point at which the filling box enters the chamber, it4 will be seen that the current of steam is caused to' pass throitgh and over the filling box immediately upon its entering the chamber. Thus the boxeis pass along over the inlet 12 where t y get the direct effect of the entering steam, Vand down into the lower part of' the chamber where they pass over the other inlet life" The current of steam troni the inlet 11 has' no tendency to pass out th. -uigh the outlet 2G, but it passes backward in the chamber under the partition 18, around the filling boxes, which are approaching this part of the chamber, up through the space at the `rear of the partition 13 and then along the filling boxes-.to the fan 14. Therefore, the effect is to et fresh live steam into intimate contact Wit the lilling immediately upon its entering the chamber, then,

to keep the filling moving along'in a current of steam moving in the opposite direction throughout the travel oi the filling in the the same place.,.

There is no necessity of cooling down the temperature to permit the-operative to enter it for each charge, and there is no necessity of leaving one charge inthe chamber longer than another or of .having anyportion of the yarn treated more fully than anyV other portion. Each box of yarn receives the same amount of vapor and on accountl of the fact that the steam is blown directly into the' yarn from the inletl pipes vand drawn directly through it by the fan, the yarn at the center is conditioned as Well as that on the top and bottom; On account of the rapidity and efficiency of the conditioning operation, the boxes are in the ma` chine for a period of from' ei ht to fourteen minutes only, at the en d o which time they pass out of the-machine. Because of the rapidity With Which the yarn is conditioned and the short period of time that the boxes are in the machine the possibility of the sap running out of thewood into the yarn is eliminatedto a great extent and the life of the boxes is materially lengthened.

The use of baille plates in connection with the fan prevents the steam escaping into t'he room, which is a' great advantage as compared with the old methods of steaming, as it never Was possible to provide a steam chest with a door that would not allowl a certain amount of steam-to escape `into the room.

when being opened and closed. Another great advantage of this 4invention is that the .machine can be, and usually is, located -in lthe spinning room itself Whereas With the old steam chest it was necessary to locate the steam chest in thebasementof the mill so that any drip or condensed steam from the floor would not leak into anyroomcbe:

.low. Placing the device in th.e"spinning room, is an extremely convenient arrangement and saves labor and time. Also, the facts-thatthis process is a continuous one and that the yarn enters` and leaves the machine at the same point so that it can be operated entirely by one man, renders this procedure economical.

Although I have illustrated and described p only a single embodiment of the invention, I

am aware of the fact that many moditications can be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claim. Therefore I do not wish to be limited to all the details of con-` struction herein shown and described, but

lVhat I do claim is A yarn conditioning machine having in comblnation a moistening chamber having projecting tubular inlet and outlet members, an endless conveyer supported and actuated to pass in through the inlet member and out through the outlet member, a plurality of depending carriers pivotally connected to said conveyer and adapted to support boxes of filli 1g yarn, and a baille plate secured to said conveyer between each two carriers'and extending substantially equal distances above and below said conveyer when in operative position, said plates closely fitting said tubular members and providing clearance for the suspended carrier when on either side of the conveyer.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

OSBORN H. CILLEY.

Witnesses:

FRED W. SWAIN, FRANK COLLINS. 

